-Earlier this year you decide to launch a positivity campaign. Why?
It
was a plan my manager Jody and I started to help make the internet
nicer. A lot of people are mad and fighting about the new president or
mad because they like him and other people
are posting mean things. I didn't understand why everyone was so mad so
I wanted to do something to help motivate online happiness again.

(Addition from Jody)
One
thing I think people would be surprised by is that between myself and
Akyra's Mom we read every single message posted to her. I also will read
to her what is trending (what
is appropriate) and see what her reaction is and then translate that
into what we promote for Akyra online. Not just as her manager, but as
someone who has grown close to her and her family I feel inspired to try
to involve her and any of my younger clients.
This is their world and America we are creating so I think its
important to involve them as much as possible and try to explain what is
appropriate to what we will be dealing with career wise publicly.

-Did anything surprise you about what happened?
How many wanted to jump on...we need to do it longer next time.

-How do you continue to spread positive messages to people around you?
I
try to talk to people everywhere I go and show support. In my last
audition I cheered on the other two girls I was competing against for
the role. Imagine how nice the world would be
if we lived by the rule "if you don't have anything nice to say don't
say anything nice at all. But jody says we have to change the word say
to tweet. (laughing)

I
started the anti-bullying club because I see bullying as such an
epidemic in culture today and I knew that several of our online
students were utilizing online schooling because they were bullied in
traditional settings. I wanted to provide students an opportunity to
discuss proven strategies that prevent bullying, encourage each other to
stand up for others, and provide support for
students that have been the target of bullying.

What are some things you do during your club meetings?

We
do a variety of things during our club meetings. We have had guest
speakers, including Jane Clementi. We’ve also practiced role
playing situations and how to handle it if you were the person being
bullied or an onlooker. We have discussed the causes of bullying and
devoted a lot of time to cyberbullying as well as spent time sharing our
stories and offering support to one another.
Students also requested time devoted to how to handle when the bully is
your friend or family member, so we have discussed that.

K12 is an online school - how does bullying look different for online students than it might for those in a traditional school?

Any
bullying done online would fall under cyberbullying which is so
prevalent in today’s culture because of the anonymity, sense
of power, lack of adult supervision, and accessibility. Students in a
traditional school experience cyberbullying as well but online students
may be more susceptible to it because of the time they spend online.
Often students can feel more isolated as well
in online school since it often reduces live human interaction and so I
try to foster that virtual human interaction with the members of the
club.

How can parents and students encourage others to not just stop bullying, but to be actively anti-bullying?

To
be actively anti-bullying parents and students alike need to be
knowledgeable about the threats of bullying and how many apps
and seemingly harmless activities (ie. online video gaming, social
media, etc) can lead to harmful bullying situations. Bullying is serious
and often leads to life-threatening harm, including suicide and
depression/anxiety. Equipped with knowledge we must
then be committed to being upstanders, people who stand up to bullying
and let the bullies know that behavior is inappropriate and harmful. We
should also be prepared to offer compassion and support to those who are
bullied. The Tyler Clementi Foundation has
produced an excellent Upstander Pledge and Day 1 Campaign that are
great resources. We must be willing to share our stories with one
another and be honest about the bullying that we have inflicted,
endured, or been complicit with.

Hopefully their stories can inspire you to create a kinder community where you live!